In reality, the Xelorian had planned this sneak attack for a long time.
Before the fight began, he intended to use his words to disturb Seraphine's mind while drawing the attention of the crowd.
Even if his opponent was an unprecedented Evershield Body under 20 years old, her age would naturally bring immaturity and naivety.
She simply wasn't as seasoned or cunning as the old folk.
Men like him didn't care about the world's opinion, or things like morality and rules.
If Seraphine became flustered for even a single second, that would be the best opportunity for Xelorian to strike.
As for any innocent people who died because of it, dead is dead. Why wait!
Hmph, that little thief even dared to be so arrogant.
Learning Primordial Ether in one minute... that's all nonsense!
Such a monster cannot exist in this world. Even if one does, they must die!
Just as Xelorian was feeling smug, a cold smile on his face, a clear voice suddenly came from within the smoky ruins of the auditorium.
"Old man, your thinking wasn't wrong."
Startled!
Xelorian's expression turned to panic as he hastily leaped over a hundred meters away.
The next moment, Seraphine calmly flew out from the swirling dust and debris. She slowly ascended into the air, hands clasped behind her back, looking down at the terrified Xelorian with total indifference.
"If it were anyone else, there would be no way to survive such an attack. But as for me..."
She slowly raised her hand, the Palm-Heart Lightning flickering with bright light.
"These little sparks of thunder and lightning couldn't harm me even if they were magnified ten times!"
Saying that, she waved her hand and unleashed a massive bolt of lightning downward.
Crack!
It struck the stunned Xelorian squarely on the stage.
Crackle crackle!!
Lightning and thunder snakes danced wildly. Xelorian was instantly sliced into pieces by the violent power.
"Pieces?"
Seraphine's eyebrows raised slightly as she looked at the piles of white paper fragments scattered across the stage.
"Another impostor."
She slowly descended to the stage, turning her head to search for the real Xelorian.
"This old fellow is quite good at hiding."
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew. Thousands of white talismans flew rapidly from all directions.
Seraphine sensed a hint of killing intent coming from those mysterious papers.
In an instant, the mass of talismans spiraled together, condensing into a human shape. Head, shoulders, chest, and limbs formed until the arrogant Xelorian appeared once again.
"Heavenborne Phantasm!" Caelus exclaimed from the distant seats.
Vale narrowed his eyes. "A mystical demon technique lost for centuries. I didn't expect Xelorian to have mastered it!"
Beside them, Veritas sighed. "I have heard of this. Legend says it combines the soul with thousands of talismans, making it impossible to tell reality from illusion. The Ninth Princess is in danger."
The old monk remained weak. The truth was, his soul had suffered too much damage. Fortunately, Seraphine's counterattack had been a casual push; otherwise, he wouldn't even be alive.
"Hahahaha! Aren't you surprised!" Xelorian laughed coldly on stage. "Seraphine, I told you—today is the day you die!"
He began forming hand seals and chanting: "White Lotus Heavenly Mother, miraculous heavenly soldiers, come forth!"
Bang!
A torrent of talismans spewed from his palms, covering nearly a hundred meters. The moment they touched the ground, they transformed into pale-faced, sturdy soldiers. Some wore armor with swords, while others carried shields and bows.
"Attack!" Xelorian commanded.
Over a hundred soldiers roared and charged at Seraphine without hesitation. He continued to wave his talismans, summoning vicious hawks, tigers, and wolves to join the assault.
But Seraphine did not flinch. Facing the wave of paper beasts and men, she opened her mouth and inhaled sharply.
Hiss hiss~
As she drew breath, the air within a hundred meters reversed flow, forming violent gusts of wind that circled her.
Then she exhaled a thunderous roar:
"Take!!!"
The wind rings exploded outward, transforming into a visible shockwave that lifted the very stage. It became a vortex beam shaped like an arrow, carrying a condensed martial will that tore through the air.
With a deafening sound, it engulfed the entire talisman army.
Rumble!!!
It was as if a massive bomb had gone off. The wind swept across the stage like an avalanche. The paper army was pulverized in an instant, reduced to dust by the power of her voice.
Bang bang bang bang!!!
Every talisman construct, even those hard as iron, was shattered by the air pressure. They were torn apart by a mixture of vibrating and crushing force. Even the traces of Xelorian’s soul within the papers were shredded. Not a single fragment remained.
This was a nameless technique born from Seraphine’s deep understanding of martial arts. To her, it was just a flash of inspiration.
Yet, even this minor trick was a nightmare beyond Xelorian’s comprehension.
"Aaaahhhh!!"
A scream of pure agony erupted. Xelorian bled from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He clutched his head, staggering backward. His soul had been nearly torn apart by Seraphine’s will.
The talisman technique he had spent years refining was utterly broken by a single roar. In the distance, Caelus and the others stood frozen, stunned by what they had just seen.
A single roar, and the battlefield was cleared.
They couldn’t help but think: if that attack had been aimed at them instead, none of them would have survived.
And in the spectator stands, the several hundred martial artists were struck silent with fear.
They all felt the same chilling realization: what they were witnessing wasn’t something ordinary anymore. It was like watching gods clash. The situation had gone far beyond what their minds could grasp.
This... was this still martial arts?
Is close-quarters combat already obsolete in this era?
Clapping hands to create thunder? Scattering talismans to raise an army? Erasing everything with a single breath? How could it be so mystical?
Kael stood gaping at the stage, dumbfounded:
"This... Her Highness’s lung capacity feels stronger than a dozen stacked jet engines! This Evershield Body... is it seriously this absurd?!!"
Beside him, Alban's expression was even more crumpled, devoid of any elegance. He violently grabbed his hair and yelled at Kael: "Don't ask me! I... I don't fucking know either!!"
No one present knew.
With 100,000 tons of immense strength, Seraphine, capable of single-handedly overturning an aircraft carrier, possessed terrifying physical strength and power. With a single punch, she could use the force of the blast to blow away buildings and tanks, not to mention those flimsy paper soldiers and paper beasts from before.
Under Xelorian's terrified gaze, Seraphine, whose aura was like that of a demon king in the mortal world, was slowly walking towards his position, step by step.
"Old man, do you have any other tricks?"
Seraphine's voice, like the strike of a large bell, suddenly rang out. Xelorian covered his dizzy head, gasping for air, so startled that for a moment he couldn't speak.
"None? Then die!"
Her thunderous voice surged, each word clear, directly hitting the ears of everyone present. Following that, they saw Seraphine throw a punch towards Xelorian.
And accompanying this punch was Seraphine's body taking a step forward.
Rumble!!!
A loud sound suddenly came from the ground. Like a god stepping on the mortal realm, it gave people a feeling that the earth itself was shaking, and they couldn't stand steadily.
And Xelorian's eyes went dark. In a flash, he felt that this one punch from the opponent directly filled his entire field of vision.
Before the punch arrived, the strong wind cutting his face had already filled all his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth with air. It was as if an ancient giant dragon had collided with him.
This kind of berserk power! This kind of terrifying might!
'I will die! I will die! I will die!'
"Run!!!"
The utterly startled Xelorian roared loudly. He raised his palms and formed seals, frantically squeezing out all of his soul power, and at the same time pulled out a handful of talismans and stuck them onto his thighs.
"Talisman Clone, Armored Horse Divine Travel! Quick!!!"
After continuously chanting several incomprehensible spells, his legs immediately swelled several times. His skin cracked, gushing out large amounts of blood and water, and with a boom, he crushed the large area of rock beneath his feet. His body slightly shifted, and he rushed towards the arena wall.
At the same time, during the process of escaping and leaping, Xelorian also manifested over a dozen clones.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!!
Every clone also crashed into the arena walls. In an instant, all sorts of wooden blocks, dust, and rock fragments flew everywhere. After leaving a row of large holes in the wall, Xelorian thus disappeared from the crowd's sight.
"Hmm?"
Seraphine's approaching movements stopped, and she said with a smile that wasn't a smile:
"Truly a flexible thug, who immediately runs away when they can't win. But wanting to run is not that easy."
Her pupils continuously contracted and expanded as she quickly looked towards each large hole. A few seconds later, Seraphine suddenly turned her head and stared directly towards the northeast direction.
"Found you!"
That position was over two kilometers away, where a vague figure was speeding at nearly three hundred meters per second, escaping toward the distance at extreme speed.
"More weird and strange spells," Seraphine said coldly, "Simply unlike a martial artist."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Bang!!
The ground shook. Seraphine took a step that covered over two hundred meters, leaving a clear scratch on the stage. In an instant, her figure vaguely disappeared, turning into a whistling phantom rushing towards the northeast.
On the scene, Caelus and the others exchanged glances, and the other martial artists were all stunned. They realized the future Number One Under Heaven might already be decided.
...
In the distance...
"That little thief is simply a monster!"
Xelorian, now a whirlwind speeding through the sky, ground his teeth and roared, his voice filled with bitter hatred: "This humiliation... one day, I will take it all back!"
Just as the words left his mouth, a faint figure silently appeared beside him, walking casually through the wind as if strolling alongside.
"Very well. I’ll grant your wish."
"What?!" Xelorian was stunned.
BANG!!
A powerful slap exploded against his face. Unable to react in time, Xelorian was sent flying like a broken kite. He crashed through several buildings in a row, then bounced and skidded across the ground for over a hundred meters before coming to a halt amid rubble and dust.
"Pfft!!"
Blood and shattered teeth sprayed from his mouth. His head swayed. Clutching his bruised, swollen face, he groaned and struggled to rise. His skull pounded like it would split open.
"Agh... damn it..."
Clenching his teeth against the pain, Xelorian formed a quick seal. With a sharp swish, the ancient bronze sword at his waist shot out, slicing through the air with chilling force, straight toward Seraphine, who was calmly walking from the distance.
"This flying sword... at least it's fast."
Seraphine sneered. She casually raised a hand and caught the bronze sword mid-flight. With a crunch, she crushed it in both palms.
Crack crack!!
The sword folded like clay in her grip. In the next moment, she flattened it into a round, shallow bowl shape, then flicked her wrist and whoosh! She sent it spinning back the way it came, faster than before.
BANG!
The compressed metal disk blasted through the air like a cannon shell. It smashed directly into Xelorian's chest.
"Aaaaaugh!!"
CRACK CRACK CRACK!!
Bones shattered in rapid succession. His spine bent grotesquely, forming a near arch. Then, BOOM! He slammed into the stone wall of a building dozens of meters away.
"Pfft!!"
Blood and gore burst outward. The wall caved in, debris collapsing everywhere. Xelorian’s body was embedded into the rubble like a broken doll, limbs twisted unnaturally, blood oozing from all seven orifices.
He struggled to raise his head. Through his blurred vision, he saw Seraphine slowly approaching, her eyes indifferent.
In his mind surged despair and hatred.
"Why... Why is this happening to me?"
"If only... if only I had mastered the Starlit Sword Qi."
Over a hundred meters away, Seraphine spoke without slowing:
"Starlit Sword Qi? How coincidental. I know it too."
"What... what?!" Xelorian's eyes widened in disbelief.
Then, suddenly, the air trembled.
Buzz... buzz... buzz...
"Th-this..."
The shattered ruins, the sky, the clouds, even the ground, all seemed to vanish.
What Xelorian saw was a blinding field of platinum clouds rising from the earth.
Vast. Hot. Radiant. Divine.
The sheer magnitude of the platinum aura made his dying body convulse uncontrollably.
"No... no... Impossible!"
"What kind of power is this?!"
"Could it be... the true martial path ahead?"
His jaw hung slack. He couldn’t even breathe.
From within that endless platinum light, piercing through its depths, he saw nearly a hundred streaks of ink-black Sword Qi bloom like a lotus, then fuse into one.
"Starlit Sword Qi?! A hundred streaks? What kind of joke is this?!"
Xelorian's mind cracked. He pushed his mangled body up, howling in hysteria:
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!!"
"I don't believe it!!!"
Swish swish swish swish!!
Air split in all directions.
Countless streaks of Starlit Sword Qi spiraled wildly around Seraphine in a celestial dance.
Then,
Seraphine soared.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
From beneath her feet erupted a divine torrent of Sword Qi, like a stellar river.
It tore through the ground, surged into the sky, and merged with the cloud sea above.
A moment later, the heavens began to tremble.
High above, the clouds turned black and began spiraling down.
Xelorian, pinned to the collapsed wall, lifted his head to see the vast stellar river descending.
Ink-black Sword Qi cascaded down like divine judgment.
Tears streamed from his bloodied eyes.
He muttered:
"You... Your Highness... Are you... the God of Martial Arts?"
The moment he spoke,
The river fell.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
Ten thousand bolts of lightning roared within it.
Sword light flashed. Shockwaves shattered the air. Earth exploded.
The sky collapsed.
Within a hundred-meter radius, everything, buildings, air, dust, was vaporized.
There was no scream. No resistance.
Xelorian was annihilated in an instant, reduced to nothing but silence and ash.
"Hoo~"
Seraphine exhaled softly, standing amidst the ravaged wasteland.
She looked into the distance.
"It's over."
Suddenly,
She slightly frowned, looking up at the horizon.
"Why does it feel like... the Ether concentration has suddenly increased?"
After thinking for a few seconds, Seraphine's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile:
"So that's it, the great Ether tide has actually appeared today!"
Actually, the original plot's description of the descent time of Earth's first great Ether tide was very vague.
It was only known to be after this Martial Arts Convention concluded.
Didn't expect it.
It truly descended right after it concluded.
Indeed.
Seraphine has defeated all Evershield Bodies and become the Number One Under Heaven; hasn't the Martial Arts Convention thus concluded?
?
Based on the plot development, the first great Ether tide will last for a full 10 minutes.
This is the first eruption of Ether after the entire Earth has been silent for countless tens of thousands of years.
After this eruption, everything will change.
A new era will truly descend.
In the previously barren era of Ether, only one superpower user might appear among every hundred million people.
But within the short 10 minutes when the great Ether tide covers the entire world, the rate of superpower users' birth will dramatically increase by tens of thousands of times.
By then, the global number of superpower users will exceed a million.
Although the vast majority will only know some useless tricks, completely unable to resist modern firearms.
They can't even defeat thugs on the street; at most, they can open a live stream to attract tens of thousands of viewers and earn a little bit of money.
Completely unable to shake Earth's main society.
However,
Under the extremely large base number of superpower users, some truly dangerous and capable experts will emerge frequently, like Ugo no takenoko.
And after the great Ether tide concludes, although Earth's Ether concentration will significantly drop, it will still be several dozen to over a hundred times stronger than before.
The path forward in martial arts...
No!
The path of evolution for all natural species will be completely opened up.
The probability of superpower users being born among humans will stabilize at one in a million.
Earth will break free from the heavy shackles of 'incapacity' and bravely rush towards 'superpowers'.
The future is definitely an era of the strong.
Boom!!!
Suddenly, a loud sound came from within Seraphine's soul.
With her extremely sensitive mental perception, she could not find the source of this sound.
It felt as if it had directly knocked on the depths of Seraphine's soul.
An incredibly simple sound struck directly at her spirit. It made Seraphine feel as though she had heard the trumpet call for a new era of evolution for Earth's sentient beings and all spirits.
Everything felt foggy yet free.
At the same time, the Eye of True Revelation was stimulated by the surging Ether. It suddenly began to operate autonomously, initiating a frantic evolution.
Buzz buzz buzz.
Her brain hummed non-stop. Seraphine's previously bland memories were easily unearthed by her divine sense.
The knowledge she had learned many years ago, the books she had read, the movies, TV shows, anime, and games she had seen...
Even the countless martial arts techniques and secret arts she had learned in the past two days...
Layers upon layers of memories, like a vast ocean wave, suddenly surged forward.
They converged in Seraphine's brain to form a vast and boundless ocean of memories.
From these disorganized memories, Seraphine's divine sense automatically filtered valuable information, quickly setting up systematic knowledge bases.
Philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, alchemy, machinery, biology, engineering, computer science, astrophysics, psychology...
All kinds of incredibly complex and profoundly intricate information were accurately summarized by Seraphine in a matter of seconds.
Furthermore, she improved upon them, entering even deeper aspects.
At the same time, with the support of this vast amount of knowledge, her stagnating martial arts realm surged like boiling oil added to a raging fire, increasing wildly.
Moreover, that more distant and profound path of martial arts also slowly unfolded before Seraphine's Eyes, revealing a vague yet brilliant countenance.
Even more, Seraphine suddenly saw traces of the true essence of martial arts.
Specifically, a small glimpse into the truth of one of the four fundamental forces of the universe: the electromagnetic force.
One of the main purposes of martial arts techniques is to destroy, and even obliterate, the opponent's body.
It must be understood that all matter in nature is composed of molecules and atoms.
Furthermore, the force that links molecules and atoms to form macroscopic objects is the electromagnetic force.
And this electromagnetic force, which belongs to the origin of the universe, actually revealed a tiny bit of its exquisite and beautiful form to Seraphine during the great Ether tide's descent.
"Is it because the cosmic rules have relaxed at this moment?"
"I seem to have... seen everything!"
Seraphine, suspended and surrounded by endless Ether, suddenly raised her head. Her two eyes burst forth with divine light several feet high.
Now, she felt as though the entire world before her had changed.
Countless streaks of illusory light danced, filling her entire field of vision.
Above, below, and all around, there were only illusory lights.
It was as if the entire world had turned into an Ocean of Light.
Unconsciously, Seraphine unleashed her enormous telekinetic force. She suddenly hooked onto a large cluster of illusory light and pulled it towards her eyes.
The Eye of True Revelation operated autonomously, quickly analyzing the true form of this densely packed cluster of light points.
"These are... atoms!!"
Shocked.
Seraphine discovered that at this moment, she actually possessed microscopic vision.
She could directly see the fundamental unit of all things in the world: atoms.
And just as she wanted to attempt further research and manipulation.
Buzz.
Her microscopic vision instantly collapsed and disappeared.
The cluster of light points she had hooked onto transformed back into invisible air.
Her perspective was forcibly pulled back into the macroscopic world.
The sky was still the sky, and the earth was still the earth.
Except for the endless, surging great Ether tide, everything else remained the same.
It was as if what Seraphine had just seen was merely an illusion.
"What's happening?"
Seraphine was unwilling.
She wanted to recreate the scene from earlier.
After trying several times, she found she couldn't do it no matter what.
After thinking deeply for a few seconds, Seraphine understood.
"It's possible that the Eye of True Revelation was stimulated by the great Ether tide just now, causing it to evolve and leading me into a state of enlightenment.
Then, I directly sensed and touched upon a bit of the essence of the electromagnetic force.
Furthermore, I indirectly 'saw' the fundamental truth of all things in the universe: atoms."
But perhaps her foundation was not yet sufficient.
That painting named 【Electromagnetic Force】, representing the ultimate scene of the most profound mysteries of the universe, only showed itself for a brief instant before vanishing without a trace.
Therefore, Seraphine could no longer 'see' atoms.
"It's alright. If there's a first time, there will be a second. The great Ether tide isn't just a one-time event. Next time, or even the time after that, I will touch the electromagnetic force and control it!"
After her emotions calmed down, Seraphine once again immersed herself in frantic cultivation.
Perhaps stimulated by that mysterious experience, Seraphine's martial arts realm acted like an engine filled with three large barrels of gasoline.
It suddenly burst forth frantically, breaking through every barrier.
While cultivating, Seraphine recalled that mysterious sound from earlier.
Based on the records in 《Dragonblood》 from her memory, that sound that initially rang in her heart was called the 'Sound of Evolution' by later generations.
All life forms on Earth with complex structures and profound evolutionary potential will hear this 'Sound of Evolution'.
No matter what kind of life form, once they hear this sound, their abilities or attributes will sharply increase.
They leap forward to evolve into a higher life form.
At the same time, under the blowing of this new era's trumpet call, extremely violent Ether torrents began to gush out from the air, the earth, the ocean, the forests, the deserts, the swamps, the plateaus, and the wilderness.
They poured out frantically from all areas.
The entire world seemed to be trembling and shaking.
It was as if the world was infused with a colossal energy that appeared out of nowhere, destined to change into a higher-level realm.
At this moment, in Seraphine's perception, the invisible and colorless Ether torrents were like countless illusory bridges connecting everything.
Seraphine, standing suspended in the air, felt like she was falling into an extremely vast ocean of Ether.
The burning hot flames, the moist coolness of water, the biting cold of ice, the freedom of wind, the fiery temper of thunder, the richness of earth and stone, and the vitality of plants and wood.
The fundamental attributes usually hidden deep within all things in the world were now nakedly revealed before Seraphine.
Her body bathed freely in the abundant and active torrent of Ether.
Her soul floated and flickered in the surging ocean of information.
She felt refreshed.
Never before had she felt such clarity.
Seraphine's mind stirred. In an instant, she directed her mental power in all directions.
Buzz.
She discovered that the Ether was actually so dense that it managed to obscure more than half of her mental perception, which was normally enough to search ten miles.
Currently, she could only barely probe a hundred-meter radius.
Thus, Seraphine no longer cared about the outside world and began to cultivate frantically.
